Two weeks after finishing the 9-day tour we
were back for Sani2c, the last 3 days of Joberg2c. After driving down we stayed at the foot of the Sani Pass
outside Underberg in some lovely secluded cottages. Riding as easy as possible up a bit of the pass we made a
mental note to come back and stay longer: riding the pass, hiking on the hills
and finishing the day with a glass of wine and log fire sounds pretty! Dinner was a nice social evening with
Bizhub having three teams: Myself and Ischen, Leana and Nicky and Carel and
Yolandi riding mixed.
Day One
Underberg – MacKenzie Club 88km (ish)
Apparently it was minus 2 as we drove into
Underberg for the 7am start.
Warming up was fine in my Michelin man layers but stripping down to
lycra wasn’t pleasant! Thankfully
there was no slow Massy Ferguson this time to ride out behind and we were
straight into racing hard. Through
the mist and dust in the fast group I took my glasses off to see, one arm broke
off and I heard that awful sound of them been crushed by a wheel behind. Just after that my back wheel
jammed. Stopping I saw the wheel
had fallen out, probably from someone knocking it in the mayhem of the
start. Fixing that I lost the
group and somehow also lost my bottle, they do say things happen in threes!!
Unfortunately at that point we lost contact with the lead ladies, Theresa and
Karien (MTN/Biogen). Riding then
in a small group the single track down to the floating bridge was as good as it
can get; smooth and compact from 3000 previous riders and made more pleasurable
with fresh legs. Ischen and I rode
hard and well together and finishing up the climb to the finish we were
surprised to hear we were only 2 minutes behind so going into the big day it
was all still to play for. Nicky,
Leana, Carel and Yolandi all came in 3rd.
Day Two
MacKenzie Club – Jolivet 96km
After an afternoon and evening socialisng I
slept solidly in the tent despite the snoring and woke nervous about the big
day down to Joliet in and out of the Unkomaas Valley
With 1500 riders the batching meant we were
off first at 6.20am. A crazy time
to start and pretty amusing trying to get ready at the van in the dark; I spent
an age looking for a glove with my tiny Nokia, Ischen was running around
looking like she’d just woke up, Conrad was armed as usual with pump, lube,
bars, jells, tools and anything else we requested, Nicky and Yolandi were their
chilled selves and Leana was just telling everyone to ‘toughen up!!’ Just as
the sun came up we were off. The temperature thankfully was in positive figures
and with the fast start again we were soon warm. There was no congestion down the single track and I felt
like I was flying down and enjoying every bit. Following ‘Burry’s brother’ (as we knew him by) was perfect
as he took such nice lines and I got to the bottom on a real high. In the mist the temperature dropped and
we spent the next hour along the valley feeling pretty cold which was a good
thing really as I’d lost my bottle again and only had Ischen’s spare half until
we saw Conrad at 60 odd km. After
riding straight through the first feed (way too early for donuts and potato!!)
we passed the lead ladies fixing a bike.
We didn’t know what had happened but knew we had a chance of s stage win
so rode as hard as we could go.
The route was fantastic, its always my favorite day and in last year’s
race it was the day Candise and myself took the lead overall. The rocky descents were smoothed
over and the deeper river crossings had bridges over. True, we were spoilt but there was still the tough climbs to
do and with such a hard effort early on we started feeling it after the second
feed. However we cracked it and
flew down towards the finish coming in in 27th overall in 4 hours
20. Leana and Nicky took 2nd
place in GC too after we heard Karien had fallen and broke her derailleur which
meant she was on a single speed for most of the day and had lost a ton of time.
After the race the mission is to find your
allocated tent and black kit box which travels in the trucks. Then its stretch, shower ands clean kit
before finally flaking out. This
afternoon with the tents in the shade I chilled out with tea and a donut
chatting to my tent neighbors, who also happened to be out DC teammates, it’s a
small world!!
Day Three
Jolivet – Scottburgh 75km
I seemed to have acquired the nickname
Disco Cath from the podium dance (compulsory I have to add) though I do have to
admit I get a little carried away and last night I had all four of us making
little box/big box, stirring the pot and wiggling the hips!
The start today, straight down and onto
sanding twisty tracks is always a struggle for me. With such a lead I didn't want to risk falling and breaking
the bike so held back which is even more risky with guys cutting in front. Ischen was also taking a strain with a
chesty cough, which got worse after yesterday’s efforts. As in Joberg2c where I was ill, we had
a good enough lead not to make it worse so backed off the pace. I felt strong so was happy not to try
to sit in the fast bunches coming through and, unlike at Joberg2c it was my
turn to look around and take in the last bits of beautiful scenery around this
area. 10km left Ischen had a flat,
we bombed it but it started going down again pretty soon. I think by the time we climbed the last
hill to the school at Scottburgh there was more air going into her croaky lungs
than was in her tires!! We were 2nd
ladies but held on comfortably to take overall victory with Leana and Nicky 2nd
on GC. Carel and Yolandi had
fought hard but ended up just missing the podium in the mixed category.
A great 3 days but over so quickly. Thanks a ton to Conrad for a smooth
mechanical free tour and for all the extra work done from the pimped up team
‘taxi’ and to Farmer Glen and Gary
for allowing us to race when so many are on the waiting lists and for the
continuous entertainment they provide.
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